What Keeps Me Going
by 01SonAmy01
Summary: "What I'm about to show you," he said, "is my secret".   Amy's tired of helplessly watching Sonic battle and barely make it out. All she seems to do is worry. But she doesn't realise her true importance and Sonic's determined to show her. SonAmy. Oneshot.


**So, I've been considering this idea for a while and it just tumbled out of my mind and made this! :) I am still working on Me, Myself and Andy (and I will hopefully update that soon) but it felt good to get out some random SonAmyness that was trapped in my mind.**

**Before I let you read, please note that this oneshot is based on episode 70 of Sonic X, 'Terror on the Typhoon', and it starts where they're about to try and escape. If you've seen it, go ahead and I hope you enjoy the story but if not, lemme just sum up a few points:  
>1) Eggman lures Sonic and co. into a trap with the Metarex waiting to ambush them.<br>2) Sonic attacks them but Eggman puts up a star shield that damages him.  
>3) Amy fixes him up but they launch yet another attack, where Sonic is seemingly hurt yet again.<br>4) Tails attempts to get them out of the trap... and that's where the oneshot begins so I hope you like it! ^_^**

* * *

><p><strong>What Keeps Me Going<strong>

_Amy's sick and tired of helplessly watching Sonic go into battle and make it out by the skin of his teeth every time. All she ever seems to be able to do is worry.  
>But she doesn't realise her true importance, and Sonic's determined to show her.<em>

Amy heard herself scream before she even realised that she'd made the sound. Her hands ached from clutching the edges of her seat but she needed to hold on to something. Without Sonic near her she had no protection, no sense of safety. She'd watched Chris fly out to get him but she didn't know if they'd come back yet, and until she knew, she couldn't relax.

.

The _Typhoon_ had only just managed to stay in one piece after the barrage of Metarex attacks, leaving everyone on edge as it was. Amy thought she'd lose it completely when she'd watched Sonic hurtle into the abyss, being mercilessly electrocuted by huge currents of energy. Not even Sonic could withstand that kind of damage and come out unscathed. And the fact that Amy couldn't be sure if he was safe, if he was even _alive_, terrified her. She was furious that Eggman had led them into this trap and put up that stupid star shield that had hurt Sonic the first time that he'd gone into battle, but her anger was nothing compared to the fear that was rising up inside of her.

.

She'd kept it together while bandaging her hero after his first collision; she'd tended to his injuries carefully, staying focused through her relief that he was okay. She hadn't expected him to go out there again. She'd tried to hold him back, but being his usual stupid, stubborn, heroic self he'd ignored her pleas and subjected himself to yet another battering, for a plan that they'd hoped would work. But it didn't look like anything was happening. In those few moments of terror, she wished more than anything else for them to be home and not somewhere – goodness knew where – in space, not fighting the Metarex and _not_ worrying herself to death about Sonic.

.

She was brought to attention as her ears detected Knuckles's voice elsewhere in the ship, yelling his chant to the Master Emerald for all he was worth. The rest of them were on the deck, aside from Sonic and Chris, who Amy prayed had made it back safely onboard. She glanced at Tails, noticing his teal-blue eyes narrow and his mouth form a grimace as he gripped the control sticks of the ship. This was it. Amy held onto her seat harder, the fear pulsating through her veins.

_Please __let __us __make __it __through __this,_ she thought desperately. _Please __let __Sonic __be __okay._

.

With a battle cry, Tails pushed forward the joysticks, and swirling black energy engulfed the _Typhoon_. Amy clenched her eyes shut, tensing herself. A thunderous rumbling surrounded the team as the whole ship shook violently. A brilliant white light took over from the darkness; Amy could see the glow even with her eyes shut. Then, as quickly as it had come, the rumbling stopped. The light died down. A sickening moment of silence ensued, and Amy froze. There was a brief shuffle of feet and then a gasp.

.

Only when the sudden cheers erupted around her did Amy dare to open her eyes. The room has become a burst of activity. Her friends were jumping up and down and hugging each other, laughing out of sheer relief. They'd made it. Amy released a shaky breath that she didn't even know she'd been holding. Her heart was still pounding; she could hear it ringing in her ears amongst the joyous cries and whooping from the rest of her team. As soon as her mind caught up to the present and she assured herself that they were safe, her first thought was, _Sonic_.

.

She stumbled out of her seat and over to Cosmo, who was dancing around with Cream. "W-where's Sonic?" she asked. "Is he okay?"

Cosmo turned to her, beaming from ear to ear. "He's fine, Amy," she assured her. "Chris brought him into the hospital wing" - she glanced at the entrance to the deck – "but I guess he wanted join in with the celebrating!"

.

Amy followed her gaze and saw the hero standing amongst their friends, supported by Chris, with a grin on his face despite the scratch-marks and dishevelled fur on his body. Her heart flooded with relief. Sonic was safe. Nothing else mattered to her as long as Sonic was safe. Her eyes fell to her trembling hands and she swallowed. She couldn't face Sonic like this. As much as she wanted to run over to him and hold him in her arms, she wouldn't. Not while she was in such a state.

.

"Amy? What's wrong?" asked Cosmo, concerned.

"Nothing. I j-just need to take a moment to calm down," Amy said, and staggered out of the room. She made her way through the corridors and into a spare room filled with empty crates, not bothering to switch on the light. The door clicked shut behind her as she collapsed onto one of the boxes, leaving her in the darkness. She wrapped her arms around herself and tried to force her breathing into a slow, continuous rhythm, but she couldn't. Every breath she took was hindered with her shaking. Her head was spinning.

.

Everything that had just happened flew through her mind in a series of flashbacks: Eggman luring them into a trap, thousands of Metarex appearing before them, Sonic flying into the star shield and going back into battle despite his injuries and Amy clinging onto him. When he'd been hurt the second time, she'd even tried to go out there and save him herself if it wasn't for the more rational members of the crew holding her back.

.

Looking back on the way she'd acted, she felt ashamed. If they hadn't stopped her she might have made things worse. Amy closed her eyes, gritting her teeth. She knew that she needed to calm down but the adrenaline was still racing through her body, the idea of almost losing Sonic still fresh in her mind. Her stomach was still doing somersaults, and she hung her head, willing to dizziness to fade.

.

A strip of light suddenly appeared on the floor, making her look up, and as the door opened wider the room was illuminated completely. Sonic stood, silhouetted, in the doorframe.

"Amy?" he called softly.

She felt her heart skip a beat. Had he come looking for her? He entered slowly, taking a seat beside her.

"Ames, you okay?"

Unable to hold it in any longer, Amy threw her arms around him. "Oh, _Sonic_," she breathed, letting her head rest on his shoulder. "I'm so glad you're safe."

.

Sonic gingerly wrapped an arm around her, patting her back.

"I- I'm sorry I didn't go to see you in there but I was in s-such a state, and I didn't want you to see me like this," she confessed, unable to stop trembling.

"Don't worry about it," Sonic soothed her. "And besides, I don't care what state you're in, Amy, I'd still be glad to see ya."

Amy shook her head, holding him closer to her, never wanting to let him go. "But I can't s-stop shaking," she said, wishing that she had more control than this in front of Sonic.

.

"It's okay now," he murmured into her ear. "Everything's gonna be all right." After a few seconds of rubbing her back, he carefully removed his arm from around her and, reluctantly, she pulled away. She put her hands in her lap, feeling stupid.

"Sorry about this," she said feebly, and hiccupped.

Sonic chuckled. "Amy," he said, "it's okay."

A heavy sigh escaped her lips. "It's just that… every time you go into battle I get like this. I get all s-shaky and I can't think straight and I panic. And w-when you were electrocuted by all that energy the _second_ time, I- I almost got in my ship and flew out there after you. Cream and Cosmo could barely hold me back; they were even going to call for Knuckles at one point."

.

Sonic smiled. That was so typical of Amy: to do something crazy just to make sure that he was out of harm's way.

"When they told me I couldn't," she continued shakily, "and I just had to _watch,_without knowing if you were okay, I just… It felt so _awful_." Amy felt her throat ache and she turned away, embarrassed at herself, knowing immediately that tears were welling up in her eyes. "I didn't know how b-badly you were hurt. I didn't even know if- if you were _alive_," she whimpered, feeling a single tear stream down her cheek. "And I couldn't do anything about it – that was the worst thing." She ran her hands through her quills, quietening her voice to a whisper in case she started sobbing. "I'm just s-such a _mess._"

.

Sonic felt her tears tug at his heartstrings. He wanted to put his arm around her again, to comfort her, but at the same time he didn't want to distract her from talking.

Amy kept her head bowed, half-wondering why she was even bothering to hide her tears when it obvious in her voice that she was crying. She trained her gaze onto the floor, fidgeting. "Whenever something like this happens, everybody does something to help," she said quietly. "Knuckles controls the Master Emerald, Chris helps you in battle, Cosmo helps Tails, and _Tails_" – she shook her head – "Tails is the _captain_ and he's just a kid! All _I_ can do is freak out and cause more problems. Even Cream stays calmer than I do. I'm _useless_," she whispered, as another tear rolled down her face.

.

Sonic was a little taken aback. He had no idea that Amy could be so insecure. It was hard to believe that Amy - the same Amy that had once chased him, shamelessly demanding marriage – secretly doubted herself. "Hey," he said firmly, "you are _not_ useless."

"Yes, I am," she replied, curling forwards so that her arms were on her lap, resting her chin on them. "I don't do anything that helps at all."

"What about nursing me and Knuckles? Without you, we'd probably be a crippled mess," he said, smiling.

.

At this, Amy sat up suddenly. She regarded him, eyes wide. "Oh my gosh, I totally forgot about that! I didn't even bandage you up when you got back! Oh, Sonic, I'm so sorry!" she cried. "Come on, we'll go to the hospital wing and I'll-"

"Amy," he said gently, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about that now. You're too upset to do it anyway."

She looked away from him again and held her head in her hands. "You see? I couldn't even do what I was _supposed_ to do!" she wailed.

.

Sonic's heart ached as he watched her shivering in distress, and he shifted closer to her. "Amy," he said. "One mistake doesn't make you useless."

"But I just can't seem to do anything right!" she exclaimed. "Honestly, Sonic, what is the point of me even being here?"

Sonic stared at her, astounded. Did she really not know the answer to that? This girl seriously didn't realise how special she was, did she? Well, he was going to change that.

.

He paused for a moment, before he said, "I wanna show you something."

Amy looked up at him, hastily wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "What is it?" she breathed.

He stood in front her, holding out his hand. "You'll see," he said. He helped her up and sent her an assuring smile. "Come on. You can't see it in here. But close your eyes," he added.

Amy did so willingly, already looking a bit happier.

"No peeking," Sonic teased.

"I won't," she said, a tiny smile playing around her lips.

Sonic raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, that's what they all say," he laughed. He stood behind her and covered her eyes with his hands, secretly enjoying the closeness.

.

Amy felt tidal waves of excitement in her stomach from the contact with him, as he began to walk her out of the room. She hesitated at where she thought the room ended, partly afraid of walking into a wall.

"It's all right, I've got ya," Sonic promised, and Amy relished in the words, mentally swearing never to take his protection for granted. He gave her directions as she blindly moved through the corridors, feeling the gentle warmth from his fingers over her eyes and his breath tickling her neck. She'd lost any ideas of where they were going as soon as they'd left the room; she'd somehow forgotten the layout of the ship completely.

.

"What I'm about to show you," Sonic said quietly in her ear, "is my secret. It's what keeps me going when the battles get really tough. It's what I fight for. If I ever start to doubt myself, I remember this one thing and suddenly I can do whatever it takes. I thought that if I show you my secret, it might help you, too."

Amy's interest peaked. She didn't even know that Sonic had a secret. What did he fight for? He wasn't just going to show her a globe, was he? "Is it really that amazing?" she asked.

"More than amazing," he said firmly. "Without it, I just couldn't have done all the things that I always have. In fact, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be the person I am now," he added. "It's been the source of my power in almost every battle of my life. This secret is very, very special."

.

Amy considered this carefully as they walked, completely confused as to what Sonic's big secret could be. Luckily, she didn't have to wonder for very long at all, as Sonic suddenly stopped her. The heat from his hands left her face and she heard the flick of a light switch.

"Okay," Sonic said slowly. "This is it. Open your eyes."

.

Amy did so excitedly, but her smile dropped as she was stunned into silence.

Her reflection was staring straight back at her.

He'd taken her to a mirror.

"It's… it's me," she said, dumbfounded, turning back to face Sonic.

He chuckled nervously. "Well, yeah, who else were expecting to see in a mirror?" he joked.

She gaped at her reflection again, then back at Sonic. "You mean… I'm…" She trailed off, afraid to believe it.

.

Sonic's cheeks reddened but he smiled at her. "What keeps me going," he said softly. "What I fight for." He expected her to leap at him, to start giggling like crazy, to do _something;_ but she just stood there, staring at him. Her lips quivered as if she was about to speak but not a single sound escaped her. Sonic curled his fingers into his palms, hoping that his nervousness wasn't apparent.

.

"Whenever I'm out there fighting the Metarex, you're helping me the whole time and you don't even realise it," he said. "Sometimes, in the really rough battles, I lose sight of what I'm doing. But then I… I think of you… and I get this whole load of new strength out of nowhere. No matter what, it works every time. If I start to wonder why I'm still battling or if I can make it, I think of what the world would be like without you, and suddenly I can fight forever. Even when I don't have the Chaos Emeralds, I feel like I'm Super Sonic," he said shyly.

.

Then he cleared his throat, as if to lighten the weight of his little speech. "So, I don't ever want to hear you saying that you're useless," he said, knowing that she could see the sincerity behind his words. "You give me the strength to do what I do every day and without you, I don't know if I'd be where I am now."

.

Amy blinked. She briefly wondered if she was awake, and that she hadn't dreamt this whole thing up. But here she was, with Sonic staring into her eyes with so much honesty in his gaze that it blew her away. This was real. He had really just told her that _she_, Amy Rose, motivated _him_ to do what she thought came to him naturally. She balled her hand into a fist and held it to her lips, feeling her emotions tumble through the barriers in her mind. He'd told her that he fought for _her_. He'd told her…

"_What keeps me going… I think of you… I feel like I'm Super Sonic…"_

.

For the second time that night, Amy threw her arms around him. "Sonic, I can't believe you just said all that!" she cried, feeling her eyes watering again. "You're so _lovely_ and everything that you said… Oh, I just… _Thank __you_," she breathed, and Sonic understood exactly what she meant.

"No problem," he said, letting the grin spread across his face and mentally celebrating that he'd managed to tell her everything without losing his nerve. He hugged her back, hardly bothering to act as cool and blasé as he usually would. She needed to know how important she was, and he was just happy that, now, she did.

.

They stood quietly for a moment, embracing each other. Amy sniffed, wishing that she wasn't so emotional but at the same time she didn't care. Knowing that she inspired Sonic the Hedgehog to carry on with his wild and dangerous adventures made her feel like she was on cloud nine. And surely, if she meant that much to him, he thought of her as more than a friend? "Sonic," she whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Does this mean… Do you… like me?" she asked, suddenly feeling silly and vulnerable.

Sonic tensed slightly. "What do you mean?" he said cautiously, feeling his cheeks burn.

"Do you like me, as in, do you… have feelings for me?"

.

Sonic said nothing and Amy had a fleeting dread that he would speed off, but he didn't move. He smiled over her shoulder.

"Many," he said, his smile becoming secretive. "But you'll have to wait and find out what they are."

A flurry of butterflies rushed through Amy's stomach at this statement and she pulled back from him, breathless, to watch his expression. "For how long?" she asked.

His hands found hers and he held them gently, scarcely noticing that he was doing it. "Just until the Meta-punks are out of the picture," he said, trying to convey reassurance to her through his smile. "I promise."

.

He didn't need to say anything else; Amy understood completely. He may not have made it set in stone but there was no way that she would believe they were just friends. Not after tonight.

"So," he said lightly, releasing her hands all too soon. "Are we gonna go back out there and have some fun or mope around all day?"

Amy smiled - a sight that Sonic was more than pleased to see - and wiped her eyes. "Option one," she said.

He grinned and opened the door, and the two hedgehogs left the room to join their friends in the celebrations.

.

Amy knew that she couldn't always be sure of what was going to happen next or who they would have to face. She didn't have the faintest idea of what lengths they would have to go to but she knew that throughout the rest of their journey to defeat the Metarex, her spirit would be kept alight, burning with the knowledge that she helped Sonic the Hedgehog win his battles. She could fight for all of eternity knowing that she gave him the strength to carry on, because _she_ was what kept him going.

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><p><strong>^_^ I hope you liked reading that as much as I enjoyed writing it! I just toyed with the idea of Amy being Sonic's inspiration and him reassuring her and this was the result. :) Anyway, hopefully that was a nice little interval for those of you reading Me, Myself and Andy (thanks, by the way! :D). I will update it soon.<strong>

**Reviews are appreciated!**


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